Snorkels, as typically utilized in skin diving and scuba diving activities, are well-known to those skilled in the art. Generally, such snorkels have a mouth piece formed upon the proximal end of a breathing tube, the latter extending around the diver's face to a location above the diver's head where the distal end thereof is open. The snorkel permits the diver to breathe while his/her face is submerged in water a short distance below the surface. In this regard, the diver is able to breathe air from the atmosphere while he/she is able to swim in a prone position just underneath the water's surface.
Once the diver dives below the surface of the water, however, the snorkel is no longer capable of being utilized. In the context of scuba diving, the diver must rely upon air provided by air tanks, typically strapped to the back of the diver, and inhale the same via a regulator. Because the snorkel is still maintained in close proximity to the diver's head and mouth, typically due to the fact that the snorkel is strapped to the head of the diver via an underwater mask strap, the snorkel is thus maintained in a position that can interfere with the diver's field of vision and/or ability to breathe through the regulator during the dive. The shape and positioning of the snorkel can further interfere and become entangled with other scuba diving equipment, namely, the buoyancy compensator and regulator hoses. Moreover, the snorkel can substantially interfere with the ability of the diver to maneuver through cramped spaces, such as caves and shipwrecks.
While attempts have been made in the prior art to provide a snorkel that feels comfortable to the diver while strapped to his/her head, such attempts, to date, have proven unsuccessful. Among such prior art devices include those snorkels disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,060 to Mitchell entitled DIVING SNORKEL WITH CONVOLUTED TUBE, which discloses an integrally molded snorkel formed of rubber and having a mouthpiece and flexible section with a substantially smooth innerwall and an external annular ribs spaced apart by thin walled intermediate sections. The thin walled intermediate sections provide flexibility to permit bending of the snorkel tube while the solid ribs prevent collapsing of the tube when the same is bent. While the flexible nature of the breathing tube disclosed in Mitchell enables the same to conform to the contours of the diver's face, however, such snorkel is still nevertheless bulky and can substantially interfere with the diver's field of vision during a dive. Such snorkel further fails to properly position the mouthpiece thereof sufficiently away from the diver's mouth so that the same does not interfere with the diver's alternative use of a regulator in place thereof.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a snorkel that can operate as a fully-function snorkel, as per conventional snorkel devices, but is further capable of assuming a compact space-efficient configuration such that when not in use, the snorkel causes minimal interference with the diver. There is a further need in the art for such a snorkel that is of simple construction and may be easily and readily utilized.